Thursday's chaos erupted just after 5 p.m. when Officer Luis Duarte, a four-year-veteran of the Cicero, Ill., force, and his partner tried to pull over a vehicle in Cicero for a routine traffic stop, authorities said. (.)

A licensed gun owner was hailed Thursday for his role in helping police in suburban Chicago stop a suspect who was firing an automatic weapon, officials said.

Officials commended the unnamed civilian for his actions as they stood outside a hospital where Cicero police Officer Luis Duarte, 31, was undergoing surgery for four gunshot wounds suffered during the shootout, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

A man with a concealed-carry license was commended for coming to the aid of Cicero police who were engaged in a shootout with a man who shot and wounded an officer near the Stevenson Expressway, authorities said. @mitchtrout and @MHendricksonCST report.https://bit.ly/2QsMXXi

“We were lucky enough to have a citizen on the street there’s who’s a concealed-carry holder, and he’s also engaged in gunfire,” said Cicero police Superintendent Jerry Chlada Jr.

“We were lucky enough to have a citizen on the street there’s who’s a concealed-carry holder, and he’s also engaged in gunfire.”

- Superintendent Jerry Chlada Jr., Cicero (Ill.) police

The chaos erupted just after 5 p.m. when Duarte, a four-year-veteran of the department, and his partner tried to pull over a vehicle in Cicero for a routine traffic stop. The driver instead took off onto a ramp leading to Interstate 55, in Chicago’s city limits.

The officers boxed the vehicle in traffic and the suspect got out and began firing the automatic weapon at them as he fled on foot, Fox 32 Chicago reported. The officers returned fire.